Side Lines

Cherwell believes that football and footballers are damaged by public voyeurism Three Leicester City players were this week informed that charges of gang rape against them had been dropped. Forensic evidence has proven them innocent. Yet their pictures have been on front pages and back all over the country, opposing fans have made their lives misery. Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair will forever be names remembered for all the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, it seems that the only way in which the tabloids have been able to divert their attention away from this incident is by discussing whether David Beckham has been having an affair and, if so, how many. A man, his wife and their two sons have had to go through a huge trauma simply because the public lusts to hear sordid details such as “Rebecca Loos: My Story,” Sky One’s gleefully promoted attempt to boost ratings by feeding from the Beckhams’ misery. None of the figures above have committed any crime, but because they are footballers, the public seems entitled to know every detail about their suffering – and the stories, irrelevant to the lives of their readers, sell newspapers. The effects of this are not only private. Leicester lost heart in the latter stages of the season and their relegation was confirmed as a result, while Beckham’s Real Madrid have slumped to such an extent that they have just this week sacked manager Carlos Queiroz. The players involved, with the public eye firmly on them, have felt the heat, lost form and been unable to focus their lives on the straightforward task for which they are being paid thousands of pounds a week – kicking a leather ball. The attitude that footballers are public figures “like it or not” is damaging to current players, who, after all, are human beings and deserve to be treated thus, as well as to future prospects, who may be put off the game by a scrutiny of their lifestyle which they cannot opt out of. The only time when the public needs to know whether Beckham has scored is when he is on the pitch.ARCHIVE: 4th week TT 2004